9400926 Owen Although Paraguay occurs at an interface between temperate and subtropical elements, with influences derived from Atlantic Rainforest, Pantanal, Cerrado, and Wet and Dry Chaco, its small mammal (marsupials, bts, rodents, and xenarthrans) and associated parasitic arthropod faunae are poorly known, even for a South American country. Moreover, its rate of habitat fragmentation and deterioration may be as high or higher than that in many areas of lowland Amazonia. An intensive and comprehensive survey of small mammals and their ectoparasites will be conducted at 24 sites, which together represent a broad diversity of habitats and give special consideration to endangered or threatened areas. Two years of field collection should produce 10,000 mammal specimens and associated arthropods. Subsequent analyses can take advantage of a design that focuses on the "complete specimen" and population-intensive sampling in areas where numerous species reach their distributional limits. The "complete specimen" entails collection of multiple independent data sets fro each individual that comprise morphological (myological, reproductive tract, skull and post cranial skeleton), karyotypic, genetic (protein allozymes, nuclear and extranucler DNA), ecological, and ectoparasitic information. As a result, a number of comprehensive analyses related to community ecology, biogeography, systematics, and evolution can be performed for both small mammals and their ectoparasites.
